On Friday, March 31, 2017, former four-time WWE champion Kurt Angle is going to walk into the Amway Center and hear chants of “you suck.” To many, it’s an aggressive display of disapproval. To Angle, it’ll be comfort food from the adoring WWE Universe that he left over ten years ago.

Angle will lead a 2017 Hall of Fame class that is already shaping up to be an impressive group with the Rock 'n’ Roll Express recently announced. Last year’s ceremony, held in the American Airlines Arena, drew a sellout crowd with 11,000 tickets sold as WCW icon Sting headlined. Prices ranged from $29 - $154, putting WWE’s revenue from ticket sales in the neighborhood of $1,000,000.

This year, tickets are similarly priced on Ticketmaster, and on a weekend that anticipates WrestleMania appearances of Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker and potentially Shaq, WWE can expect similar turnout and revenue for the Hall of Fame induction of one of the biggest stars of the attitude era.

In part 1 of an exclusive interview with House Money Studios, Angle spoke about his WWE return as a bittersweet moment:

“I miss those chants. I haven’t heard them in 11 years,” said Angle.

“When I left, we didn’t leave on bad terms, but I was getting injured so much and I had a problem with painkillers, and I felt like I was a liability to Vince McMahon. Back then, it was pretty tough. 300 days a year, so I just asked if I could leave the company because I still had five and a half years left on my contract. I think Vince McMahon and I—we didn’t want the outcome that came—but we were both okay with it.”

Angle has since overcome addiction with help from his former employer as he noted that he spent time in WWE-sponsored rehab at the behest of former TNA boss Dixie Carter. The average cost of a rehab program in the United States ranges from $250 to $650 per day. For a 30-day program, that equates to anywhere from $7,500 to $20,000.

“Vince wanted me to take care of myself, he did want me to check into rehab, and I didn’t listen to him. I wish I would have. But I went to another company and spent 11 years there so it’s just nice for Vince McMahon and Triple H to call me and tell me they want to induct me, and they want me to be somewhat a part of the company."

They didn’t talk about wrestling after that but we will be talking about future endeavors but we wanted to do the hall of fame first and that’s all we want to focus on.”

Angle has not only recovered but he now uses lessons learned from his past struggles to heal others. Angle launched his new Anglestrong app last month, and with 100 downloads, it has plenty of room to grow in the addiction recovery app market, where top apps see upwards of 100,000 downloads.

With so many pro wrestling strengths at his peak in WWE, Angle’s future endeavors do not have to be limited to smartphone apps as the Olympic gold medalist has plenty of knowledge to impart on the next generation of WWE Superstars. Angle has no interest in starting a wrestling school, where top schools–like the Team 3D Academy run by his former WWE and TNA peers the Dudley Boyz—charge a tuition of $3,500 per student. Instead, he sees more interest in becoming a trainer for WWE NXT.

“I have a lot to offer in professional wrestling and I really love the sport, I love sports entertainment. It’s been really good to me. I caught on very quickly and I’ve been a great student, now I’ve become a great teacher.”

And as for talk of one more match?

“I wouldn’t be surprised if I do a few more matches somewhere down the line, but they haven’t talked about it so it’s not official. This Hall of Fame thing is just the beginning, so let’s see how it goes and we’ll go from there.”

As somebody who has wrestled all around the world of numerous organizations, Angle already has his ideal opponents lined up:

“I’ve had my best matches with AJ [Styles] and [Samoa] Joe, so it’d be nice to do it on a bigger platform in the WWE so we’ll see what happens.”

Check back for Part 2 of House Money Studios' interview with Kurt Angle next week